One Brocon Too Many
by BlackTyrantValvatorez
Summary: We all know that V.V. is a jealous little brocon towards Emperor Chuck. But after Nunnally finds out about Lelouch beginning his rebellion she vows to support him and confesses her love for him, unknowingly proving herself as a brocon as well.
1. Vows

**A/N: I honestly have way too much goddamn time on my hands. I have so many one-shots and uncontinued shit that I might just start trying to either update it or delete some of that stuff.  
**

 **Inspiration: This story was partially inspired by another story. In this case it's _A Blast From the Past_ by Shadow of Midnight. Check it out if you want to see just how the hell this got up off the ground.**

* * *

One Brocon Too Many

 **Phase 1**  
Vows

Lelouch sighed in relief as he saw the Ashford Academy Student Council Clubhouse, which had been his and Nunnally's home for the past seven years since being taken in by Milly's grandfather after surviving the invasion of Japan. After unlocking the front door with his key, he opened the door and closed it after himself before locking it. Lelouch saw someone step out of the shadows in the ballroom after he locked the door and he said, "What is it, Sayoko? I do apologize for being late since due to a situation that occurred in Shinjuku, I have begun to go down the path of war."

"Goshujin-sama, Lady Nunnally wishes to speak with you. She is currently in her room at the moment." Sayoko replied.

Lelouch was silent as he went into the East Wing of the Student Council Clubhouse and eventually found himself outside Nunnally's bedroom door. Bracing himself, Lelouch opened the door and saw his younger sister sitting in her wheelchair. He forgot why he was in her room as he experienced a flashback to Shinjuku and immediately approached Nunnally before hugging her. She silently guessed that Lelouch thought that he would never see her again because of the warm embrace she was getting and responded by wrapping her small arms around him. Both siblings eventually ended the mutual embrace and Lelouch asked, "What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"It's very late, Lelouch. What happened?" He stared at Nunnally in silence as he gently squeezed her hand. She could feel how unsure and nervous he was, "What ever it was I'll still love you."

A small smile appeared on his face as he tried to relax, but couldn't. "I killed Clovis today." When she didn't react he forced himself to continue, "On accident I ended up in Shinjuku today and found soldiers massacring the Japanese. I only narrowly escaped death myself at the hands of Clovis's royal guard. A girl actually sacrificed her life for mine."

She gripped his hand hard and trembled. Slowly Nunnally raised her other hand and gently felt his face as though to make sure he was really there. "Y-you mean . . . I almost lost you?"

The prince softly cupped her hand with his in comfort. "You will never lose me if I can help it. I will fight with everything I have to return to you." A teary smile flitted across her face and he took that as a sign to finish his story. "There was no way I could leave all those people to die. So I took control of the local terrorist group and lead them to victory." He hesitated again, "I had to confront our brother to stop it and now I've started down the path of rebellion against HIM."

Nunnally hugged her brother tightly. Smiling as he returned it and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I understand. I . . . I will support you as long as your goal remains as it is now. To avenge our mother and to ensure a better world for me. For both of us." The young princess wordlessly pulled away slightly in their hug. Just enough so she could face him fully even if they were only inches apart. A smile gracing her features.

"N-Nunnally?" She could feel the heat coming off his face and her smile grew wider.

"I told you. I will always love you, Lelou." She let all the feelings she had been ignoring for years guide her actions. They might be brother and sister, but she didn't care as she kissed him in a decidedly romantic way. Lelouch could feel Nunnally's love and devotion for him just from the kiss that she was giving to him and returned it before asking, "Do you want me to sleep with you, Nunna?"

"Please do so, Lelou. I. . . I don't want to lose you just like with our mother."

Meanwhile at the Purist Faction Headquarters, Jeremiah and Villetta were both talking about what happened. "Those idiots had no memory of what happened! They said that they were in the command room with Clovis one moment and then they were in the brig the next moment that they remember! I didn't buy any of it and Bartley is due to be shipped back to the homeland as a prisoner once I capture him." the teal-haired former guard said.

"Speaking about not remembering anything, I think I remember something about what happened in the Ghetto. I saw a Britannian student just before my memory got fuzzy. When it cleared up, my knightmare was gone and I was in the middle of a warehouse full of dead bodies." Villetta replied.

"A Britannian student?! We need to look into the uniforms of the schools inside the Tokyo Concession. Do you remember the uniform?"

"It appeared to be a black jacket worn over a white shirt with black pants."

"That leaves two possibilities: Ashford Academy and this weird place called the Odyssey Boys' School. Just to be on the safe side, get ahold of the student rosters for both schools."

"Understood, Lord Jeremiah." Villetta said before leaving to obtain the student rosters.

* * *

Lelouch silently cursed as he woke up just before 5:30 in the morning when he heard a door open somewhere. Nunnally was still asleep and he was initially worried about that he and his sister had been found out as the door to Nunnally's bedroom was opened, but to his relief it was just Sayoko. "I apologize for disturbing you Goshujin-sama, but I have urgent information for yourself and Lady Nunnally." the Japanese maid said barely above a whisper.

It took a few moments to wake up Nunnally, but Lelouch managed to get her awake by squeezing her arm gently. As soon as she was awake Sayoko hurriedly explained the situation. "The military has surrounded the Academy grounds. It will not be long before they charge in, but their leader hasn't said anything yet."

A Knightmare Frame's loudspeakers announced, **"Attention residents of the prestigous Ashford Academy, this is your interim-viceroy Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald speaking! We know that you are hiding Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally in your walls! Hand them over to us or we will storm this school! You have ten minutes to comply!"**

 _'Damn it! I'm going to have to use one of my escape plans!'_ Lelouch thought before he got up and said, "Sayoko, have bags been prepared?"

"Yes, Goshujin-sama. I have also taken the liberty of packing away Lady Nunnally's Braille books and placing them among what we will be taking with us."

"That was a good call, Sayoko. I'll need to write up a note so I'll need to return to my room temporarily since it's the only place where most of my pens and pencils are located."

Lelouch then left his sister's bedroom and got to his room, where he wrote up a note for Jeremiah Gottwald to find that took almost eight minutes. Once it was done, he went back into Nunnally's room and heard footsteps on the roof before Sayoko returned and said, "Britannian soldiers are taking up positions on the roofs. We only have moments before Jeremiah gives the order to storm the grounds, Goshujin-sama."

"Sayoko! Escape Plan Omicron!" Lelouch shouted as he helped Nunnally get into her wheelchair. Knowing what this meant, Sayoko tapped a headlamp near Nunnally's bed twice and then a portion of the wall descended into the floor to reveal a pair of elevator doors. Lelouch pushed Nunnally inside the elevator with Sayoko following shortly after before she pushed a button. The elevator doors began to close as Lelouch heard Jeremiah shout, **"All forces, you are authorized to storm Ashford Academy! Your top priority is to secure both Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally!"** If Jeremiah had said anything more it would go unheard after the doors closed. The elevator began its descent as the wall slid back into place.

* * *

Jeremiah dismounted from his Knightmare, even as his targets escaped unseen, and hurried towards the Student Council Clubhouse. He kicked open the front door and went up the stairs. He approached the room their scouts had seen the siblings and was surprised to find it unlocked. He entered what he could only assume was the home of the prince and princess only to find it eerily quiet. Deep down he was certain it was because no one was there any longer. He was even more surprised to find a note waiting for him on the table.

* * *

 _To Jeremiah Gottwald,_

 _By the time you have read this we will be long gone. Our apologies as my sister and I have no desire to return to Pendragon. Where that man is waiting for us. My trust in the emperor has long since been broken and we refuse to be used as tools again. Our retribution has only just begun with the events that transpired in Shinjuku. Clovis was just the first on this bloody path I'm on. Britannia's reckoning is coming and I am its harbinger._

 _After we managed to survive the invasion, no thanks to our father, we fled to the Ashford family. It was our decision to remain in obscurity and they respected that. As such only the Ashford's knew of our identities. We ask that nothing be done to them or any of the students. If only out of respect for keeping us safe for all these years._

 _We would also like to tell you, Jeremiah, that we appreciate all you did at Aries Villa. Neither Nunnally or I blame you for what happened to our mother. You could not have prevented it. Similarly please tell our sisters, Cornelia and Euphemia, that we hope to see them again someday. As two of the only people we actually miss from the royal family. We stopped counting ourselves apart of them when bombs were rained down on the Kururugi Shrine with the knowledge we were still there._

 _As for the emperor . . . Tell our father that I'm coming for him._

 _Sincerely,_  
 _Lelouch and Nunnally Lamperouge née vi Britannia._

* * *

Jeremiah was conflicted between his loyalty to Marianne's children and his loyalty to Britannia. He thought back to why he chose to storm Ashford Academy. He began to search through the student roster's to both schools he specified once Villetta brought them. What he hadn't anticipated was to find the long thought-dead prince and princess hiding with an alias. The alias being their mother's maiden name had been what caught his eye enough to find their pictures. The margrave wanted to serve them as their knight of honor to make up for his failure.

Now he has discovered that not only do they have no intention to return to Britannia, but his prince wished to destroy it. His liege even outright told him they don't blame him for that failure that has haunted him for all these years. Despite that though Jeremiah wanted nothing more than to serve the vi Britannia line. The only problem is that it would require him to betray the empire.


	2. Revelations

**Inspiration: This story was partially inspired by another story. In this case it's _A Blast From the Past_ by Shadow of Midnight. Check it out if you want to see just how the hell this got up off the ground.**

 **This chapter was also Beta-read by Shadow of Midnight.**

* * *

 **Phase 2**  
Revelations

Jeremiah was frustrated, with several people, and took it out on the those being brought into the ballroom by his soldiers. He specifically targeted his glare at Ruben and Milly Ashford as they were two of the people his frustration was really aimed at. Not the other teens. "It's fortunate for you that their highness's asked me to not harm your family." The margrave was pleased to see the blonde tense. Something Villetta seemed to share with him judging by her own smirk. "At the same time their note mentioned it was their decision to remain in hiding all this time. So, as much as I hate it, I can only commend you for it. After all turning them in would have easily allowed you to reclaim your noble titles."

"I've known them since before Lady Marianne was killed, Viceroy. They are dear friends of mine and selling them out wasn't worth losing that." Jeremiah was even more pleased by Milly's response. It showed she had more honor than many people he knew. Choosing friendship, and perhaps love, over power. The leader of the Purist Faction let that fact show with a small, though approving, smile. "That's not to say my parents felt the same way my grandfather and I did. Took some . . . convincing for them unfortunately."

"What I still can't believe is that they were here, under Prince Clovis's very nose, all these years." The margrave had a real look of puzzlement as he spoke.

Even his subordinate, Villetta, shared those thoughts, "What I don't quite understand how he could have never discovered them. If you recognized them so easily then he should have. Did his highness even look?"

Their attention was brought to the orangette as she interrupted. "Just hold on a moment! What on earth is going on? Where is Lulu and Nunna?!"

No one answered Shirley for several moments and, for a time, it looked like no one would. Then Milly spoke, "As I'm sure you have figured out by now their real surname isn't Lamperouge. They are, in fact, Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia. As for where they are? They ran." The blonde teen stopped there so that could sink in.

"W-what," Shirley was staring at Milly in shock. Clearly unsure if she heard right as Rivalz and Nina shared her reaction.

"Lelouch was always paranoid about being discovered and so, years ago, he plotted ways to escape such a situation. Neither of them wanted to return to Pendragon. Actually Lelouch would likely sooner kill Nunnally and then commit suicide before returning if possible."

That caught even Jeremiah's attention as he looked at her with alarm mirrored by her friends. "His letter made it clear that he hated Britannia, but to go so far to avoid going home? Why would his highness do such a thing Miss Ashford?"

"Because seven years ago his father tried to take Nunnally away from him." Her gaze sharpened, taking the turquoise-haired man aback, and she continued. "Lelouch has a very strong mind, and I don't just mean intelligent, but even he needed to talk every now and then. He couldn't bear burdening Nunnally with some of them and so I became his confidante. I know him very well and I can safely say that without his sister he feels like his life has no purpose."

Jeremiah was certain he wouldn't like the answer, but he knew he needed to ask. If what she said was true then Milly Ashford was the key to helping him make his decision on his moral dilemma. On if he should betray his country for the sake of following what remains of the vi Britannia line. "What did his Majesty try to do to her?"

"As I'm sure you know Nunnally was crippled and blinded in the attack that killed Empress Marianne. I'm also certain you know the circumstances behind their exile."

"In truth . . . I only know rumors."

Milly nodded as she understood it was likely kept hush hush outside of the imperial courts. "Lelouch gained an audience with the emperor and tried to demand he continue his search for the murderer of their mother." She clinched her fist in anger as she thought about what happened next. "Their father didn't care and even called Nunnally weak due to her recent disabilities. Things she couldn't help."

"There is no way the emperor couldn't be that cruel . . . right?" Deep down Rivalz knew his crush wasn't lying, but he didn't want to believe anyone could do that to their own children.

"You're right Rivalz. He isn't that cruel. Charles zi Britannia is even worse."

Those around her stared in shock that she had even dared utter those words. Even Ruben, equally surprised by his granddaughter, was among them looking at her. "You dare insult his Majesty?!" It was Villetta who managed to speak first.

"Not exactly, Knight. I was young, but I still remember enough of the imperial courts and what I was taught. It's simple fact that the emperor cares about very little in the world."

Her grandfather sighed and nodded before, for the first time, speaking. "She is right. We were close to Empress Marianne and I met with the emperor personally time to time. He isn't the most caring man and he doesn't hide that. The only thing I never understood was his reaction to Marianne's death."

Jeremiah knew that was something he needed to press, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that, though Charles cared for little, he did care for her. I saw it whenever the emperor thought no one was looking. I suspect there was a reason behind why he did what he did, but we'll likely never know."

Milly nodded, "Despite that he acted as though he wasn't affected. Thanks to that, and calling his sister weak, Lelouch lost his temper. He abdicated his right to the throne and in turn the emperor decided to send him to Japan as a political hostage."

"Him? What about Nunnally, pres?" Shirley managed to ask through her shock.

"I didn't know this until Lelouch told me. As I said earlier, I became his confidante much like he became mine. The emperor saw no use for her and, probably with the intention of teaching Lelouch a lesson, had every intention of marrying her off." She glanced towards her friends as they paled, "Lelouch always adored Nunnally, even before she was crippled, and that connection has only grown stronger over the years. Something you have seen being apart of the Student Council."

The blonde teen scowled as she thought about all Lelouch had told her, "It would have been a number of years before it happened though as it was to be with a wealthy nobleman's six-year old son. As you can imagine Lelouch wouldn't stand for that and ordered several guards from the Aries Villa to retrieve her from the hospital."

Jeremiah's eyes widened as he remembered that, "I knew two of the people involved in that! It was terrible what happened to them afterwards, but I never argued because we were told they were traitors."

"In a way they were, but only because they succeeded. Some died in the attempt while a few more were captured and executed." Milly had a grim look as she continued, "The emperor didn't know that it was Lelouch who was behind it until they were already in Japan. He had Dorothea Ernst, the Knight of Twelve at the time, fruitlessly searching for her when Lelouch sent him a taunting message."

Everyone in the room could already tell that doing that had surely been a poor choice. Though Villetta couldn't help but be impressed. She whistled in amazement, "The prince had some serious balls even when he was ten."

Milly couldn't help it as she began laughing. An example her friends, grandfather, and even Jeremiah followed. "Yes. Yes he did. He can be very ballsy and somehow come out on top in even the worst situation." She was smiling despite what they were talking about, "Which is what happened when his father retaliated by sending a Spec-Ops team after Nunnally. With orders to kill Lelouch."

Her humor remained though it quickly drained out of everyone else as her words registered. Though the siblings trust Ruben they had never told him this and he was just as disturbed as the others. Despite his experience in the Imperial courts he had never heard of the emperor himself targeting one of his children. "His Majesty did w-what?" Jeremiah croaked out in horror.

"The emperor tried to kill Lulu?! Then I would have never . . . met him." Shirley was shaking as the information hit her hard. Crying for Lelouch and Nunnally and for what they had to endure.

A knowing smirk remained on the blue-eyed teen's face because she knew the rest, "Like I said. Lelouch came out on top anyway. He knew his father might try something like that, though he had hoped not, and had a battalion of Japanese soldiers at the ready. His worst fears were realized when they were attacked, but with minimal casualties, thanks to the element of surprise, the Spec-Ops team were killed." Her smirk dropped as she remembered what Lelouch told her happened next.

"As you can imagine it didn't end there unfortunately. That event, believe it or not, was the unofficial trigger for the Second Pacific War. The emperor was angry that Lelouch had been two steps ahead of him. Having temporarily moved to a military base near Tokyo to maximize the chances of the entire team getting killed."

"So his father began preparing for war." The orange-eyed man looked thoroughly disgusted, "I always wondered why the military was already geared up before tensions were raised. I never thought our emperor was so petty and cruel. I also remember that Dorothea was commanding the troops during the war."

No arguments were raised, not even by Villetta, as a similar thought had occurred to everyone. After hearing all this the one who was shaken up the most was Nina. Her absolute faith in what the Britannian media, and thus the empire as whole, told her made this hard to believe. Yet Milly was her friend and, despite her usual silly attitude, the student council president could be serious when she had to be. The shy scientist knew that this was one of those times and her friend wasn't one to lie. How could she trust such an empire to not abuse any of her future inventions?

* * *

Kallen and Ohgi were waiting in a staff room within the ruins of a school near Ikebukuro. She had a look of consternation on her face as she tried to understand what just happened. "For some reason the military just stormed Ashford Academy. I don't know why yet."

Ohgi's eyes widened suitably in shock. Naoto's little sister had simply called him and said there was an emergency. "Were they after you?" He let out a sigh of relief when she shook her head in disagreement.

"I doubt it. I haven't been there for awhile and there is no way my cover has been blown. If it was they would just go to my house. Not the school." The logic in her words helped him calm down. "I'm not going back after all it seems. I'll let things cool down for a few days first. It's unlikely they would make a connection to my absences, but you never know."

"Ohgi! Kallen!" Both terrorists jumped slightly in surprise before looking towards whoever called out. Kallen blinked as Yoshida came running up, out of breath, and looking concerned. "We have a . . . situation. I don't know if I would call it a problem, but it's weird."

They narrowed their eyes in both curiosity and curiosity. With everything that happened at Shinjuku they were on high alert though, "Tell us on the way." As they began following their friend Ohgi raised an eyebrow and spoke again. "Weird how?"

"You see . . ." Yoshida paused as if trying to put it to words, "One of our squads spotted a black car come out of some ruins near the old Metropolitan Government building. We've got the occupanted detained though after their ride hit a pothole and broke down."

The school teacher-turned rebel frowned, "That does sound strange, but why do I get the feeling that isn't the whole story?"

"The occupants were a Japanese maid along with two Britannian's. A boy and a girl, but the thing is," The Japanese man seemed to hesitate here, but continued after an uncomfortable pause, "The girl is blind and crippled." The fact that Yoshida, judging by his returning awkwardness, still hadn't said everything told Kallen everything she needed to know. This was going to be a really, REALLY strange day.

"The maid well . . . she almost castrated Tamaki with a kunai when he threatened the students. After that, when he tried to threaten her, she disarmed him faster than he could see it."

Kallen and Ohgi just stop and stare at him in disbelief, "Are you saying the maid is a fucking ninja?" The normally fiery red-head didn't think those actually existed anymore and she was half-Japanese!

"Yes. It was actually on the order of the boy that she did nothing more. She seems to have only the highest respect for him oddly enough. Honestly none of us wanted to mess with someone like that and were going to let them go. The only reason we didn't was because the boy asked to see YOU." Yoshida glanced at Kaname which stunned him.

"So the boy somehow knew Ohgi's name? How?!" Then something he said earlier finally hit her, "Wait. You called them students."

The terrorist nodded, "I did. They are wearing Ashford Academy uniforms."

Kallen froze and stared with wide eyes, "Then why am I coming with you?! It will blow my cover!"

"About that . . ."

"Don't tell me he asked for her by name too." Let it never be said that Ohgi doesn't try to be funny. Unfortunately this particular attempt at dry humor didn't pan out in the way he planned.

Yoshida sighed, "No. He didn't." She let out of sigh of relief before noticing the sentiment wasn't shared. "He did ask for us to bring, and I quote, ' the fiery red-head'." Stunned they walked the short distance left in silence. Kallen felt nervous in a way she hadn't before. Past all the questions something told her that this would be a moment she would remember for the rest of her life.

* * *

Lelouch could hear them three sets of footsteps coming closer and he sat up straighter. Inoue only confirmed his suspicions when she called out to them! "Good to see you three!" He patiently waited, with Nunnally by his side, for them to get closer.

Kallen warily watched the boy with raven hair as Ohgi went to talk with the others. Against her better judgement she stepped closer and was going to say something, anything really, to him. The lilt of a voice that could only belong to this boy stopped her. "I hadn't expected to meet all of you like this. In fact I had every intention to wear a mask, but circumstances change."

"Why would you be planning to meet us at all?" The teen had their attention now as Ohgi spoke with narrowed eyes. Silence fell over the group when the young girl spoke.

"Lelouch." The crippled girl reached out and squeezed his hand, "This is the point of no return. If you have any doubts, any at all, then now is the time. I will support you in whatever you decide."

"I know Nunnally." He turned his head and for the first time Kallen was able to see his face. Smiling, "You are well aware that this was a long time coming. I made a vow and I will see it through. The emperor will pay, our mother will be avenged, and Britannia will crumble."

None of the terrorists knew how to respond to that proclamation as the boy, Lelouch, squeezed Nunnally's hand lightly before standing. He turned to face them with a much more serious expression. Something about his voice seemed familiar, but the place she connected it to made her unsure. Marching up to him, "So tell me. Were you the voice on the radio in Shinjuku?" The look of legitimate surprise on his face told Kallen what she wanted to know.

"I'm impressed, Q-1." Lelouch theatrically bowed, "I am Lelouch Lamprouge and I was indeed the one who lead you to victory in Shinjuku just yesterday."

"You're a stinkin' Britannian! Why would you help us?!" Tamaki jeered with a scowl, "I bet you were just trying to save your own life!"

Sharp violet met with brown in a cold glare, "Perhaps I was trying to save my own life, but I do have more reasons than that." The abrasive man might have said something more had Sayoko not send him a glance of her own as she brandished her kunai. After a very noticeable gulp he went silent.

Kallen whistled, "We need to keep you around. I mean you managed shut Tamaki up."

"I'm still here you know!" Much to his chagrin they continued to ignore him.

Lelouch smirked, "Is he always like this?"

"You have no idea," Ohgi sighed.

"OI!" His anger was steadily rising as they all started laughing at him. Even the crippled girl was giggling. "Screw you guys!"

Lelouch only lightly chuckled, but waited patiently for the others to quiet down. He was fortunate in that it didn't really take very long. "Now as I said. I had more reasons to help other than saving my life. Such as the ones you heard while I was talking to my sister. Though I am aware that to all of you the idea of Britannia itself crumbling sounds impossible. That however is my desire. The obliteration of the Empire."

They were all stunned by the conviction he held. "There's no way that's possible! Why would you get in contact with us for this anyway? Why not the EU or the Chinese Federation? Or even the JLF!?" Inoue didn't understand why this boy was suggesting all these things. Even if he was telling the truth she was well aware that the group was small time.

The raven-locked prince could see the others agreeing with her and sighed audibly. "You are correct. For such a task those places could allow for more moving room. I didn't want to admit this, but I had no intentions of starting my rebellion now until I got caught up in Shinjuku. I actually planned on graduating Ashford and then begin amassing the funds and equipment needed for it for over the next decade or two."

"Wait! Are you two the reason why the academy was raided by the military?" Kallen had only just now made the likely connection as her eyes widened. The pilot's suspicions were confirmed when all three of the detainee's reacted to her question. At the same time this caused Lelouch to look at her more closely. Noticing this she felt weirdly uncomfortable as he did so.

"I see. I thought I recognized you in that truck on the way to Shinjuku. At the time I couldn't place you, but that is because you aren't at school often Ms. Stadtfelt."

Her eyes widened and she growled at him, "The truck?!"

Lelouch chuckled, "Yes. The truck you and your friend crashed yesterday. It is lucky for you that you did because I happened to be heading back to school from gambling on a chess match."

"You are going to stop those aren't you," Nunnally looked at him concerned.

He sighed and nodded, "I will Nunnally. Unless we get desperate need of money. After all you know there are very few people who can best me in chess. As for the truck . . . I happened to get caught inside it when I tried to help. That is how I came to find myself in Shinjuku and able to help."

"I believe we have gotten off topic, Master Lelouch." Sayoko looked towards him with a teasing smile.

Kallen, enraged that the Japanese maid was calling him Master, nearly saw red. A sentiment shared with her friends, "MASTER?!"

The ninja nodded, "I have been their caretaker since the Ashford family put them in my care after the invasion. The master and mistress treat me like family, but I am honor-bound to refer to them as such. I could serve no one greater than them." Her words stopped Kallen short of going over there and beating Lelouch to a pulp. Instead she, and the others, were staring in shock.

"Now back to the military situation. It is as you guessed Kallen. We were in hiding there for the last seven years as I bid my time, but somehow Jeremiah Gottwold found us. So we escaped through a secret tunnel. That is why we were coming out of this building. The tunnel lead out here."

"You mean . . . there is a shortcut to the school through here?!" The fiery red head started.

"Yeah, but it leads directly to our old rooms. It would be strange for you to come out of there." He could see how visibly deflated she looked, but didn't know what he could do about it. "I've now told all of you my goal and you have witnessed what I can do with my tactical skills. Would you be willing to let me lead you? To drive Britannia out of Japan and beyond?"

The raven-haired prince wasn't too surprised by the reactions his request got. Nonetheless he was relieved that it was only Tamaki who had exploded. Once again thanks to Sayoko he quickly calmed down before shuffling out of the building as he muttered to himself. Inoue and Yoshida were both clearly unsure, but seemed to recognize the opportunity he represented. Even if they didn't like it.

Kallen wasn't sure herself, but the more this boy talked the more she realized his voice sounded a lot like the one on the radio. A fact that made her almost confident in him despite her uncertainty. A voice cut through the silence, "Were you the one to stop the troops yesterday? We were only moments away from being killed in the warehouse we fled to."

Lelouch's eyes flashed, "Yes. That was something I hadn't gotten to. All of you don't really have much of a choice BUT to hand me leadership."

"Why?" Kallen's blue eyes studied him, but interestingly it wasn't him who answered. It was his admittedly adorable little sister.

The blind girl carefully turned her wheelchair around, "Because my big brother killed Prince Clovis after forcing him to stop the fighting at gunpoint." Of all the things that they expected to be said that was the furthest from them. The conversation screeched to a halt again for what had to be the third time.

"W-what?"

Nodding Lelouch answered, "Yes. I snuck aboard the G-1 and killed the viceroy. The truth of the matter is whoever replaces him is going to start seeking to destroy these kinds of groups. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they chose the Witch of Britannia herself. The war against the MEF is nearly over from what I know and no one is better at smacking terrorist groups down."

Noting that none of them even tried to speak he continued, "Good to see you understand the gravity of the situation. I would like to say that I want to talk to Kallen and Ohgi alone for a minute. I suspect the rest of you, including Tamaki, will be told before long."

Almost absentmindedly Yoshida and Inoue just walked outside to join their angry friend. While at the same time he pulled the other two out of their reverie by mentioning them by name. "What did you want to talk to us about?" Ohgi was taking this seriously now with the reality now setting in.

"Why we were in hiding. I would happily keep it secret, but the news of who we are will spread quickly." Lelouch gently grasped his sister's hand and she squeezed to give him confidence. "Our mother was murdered by someone high up in nobility seven years ago, but it was blamed on terrorists. In the same attack Nunnally lost her sight and ability to walk and shortly after our father sent us to Japan as political tools."

Both Kallen and Ohgi felt like that story was familiar, but they couldn't place it at first. Knowing this Lelouch went silent so they could think through what his words meant. It was the ex-school teacher who finally said something. "That's impossible. That mirrors what happened to-"

"The vi Britannia siblings?" He chuckled lightly, "Exactly. We are Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally of the Britannian Imperial family. The siblings who were thrown away to die in the invasion, but refused to." Once more they were stunned as he began to smirk. "I ask you, the Shinjuku Resistance, to form the beginning of an army that will bring ruin to my father's. I do not desire the throne. All I desire is to create the gentle world my little sister deserves and wishes for. Will you join me as Zero? Will you become my Black Knights?"

Kallen and Ohgi were silent for an entire minute before Ohgi answered, "I'll consider it. I'll make my decision tomorrow."

"Same here." Kallen said beore she and Ohgi left.


	3. Maneuvers

**Inspiration: This story was partially inspired by another story. In this case it's _A Blast From the Past_ by Shadow At Midnight. Check it out if you want to see just how the hell this got up off the ground.**

* * *

 **Phase 3**

Maneuvers

Suzaku had been busy with his daily workout routine when he had been roughly pulled up from his push ups by two Britannian soldiers. "Suzaku Kururugi?" He nodded his confirmation and they continued, "The Interim Viceroy Jeremiah Gottwald wants a word with you. Follow us and we'll take you to his office." He knew not to argue and did as he was asked. Though he was confused why they called someone other than Clovis Viceroy and why they would want to talk to him.

Even so he didn't ask as the soldiers knocked on a door. When a man's voice, presumably Jeremiah's, told him to come in he did. "Please sit down if you would, Private Kururugi."

That confused him even more. Very few Britannian's, soldiers or not, would say please when talking to an honorary Britannian. Unsure and wary he slowly sat down. "Lord Gottwald . . . what did you need of me?"

Jeremiah stared at him for a moment, "Relax. You are not in trouble. First off I would like to tell you that you did a good job piloting the Lancelot at Shinjuku. Surprisingly so to be frank."

Suzaku nodded dumbly with his confusion rising, "Thank you."

The Viceroy was amused now before reaching into his breast pocket and pulling out a picture. "The second thing is to talk about this." Jeremiah pushed the picture towards the Suzaku and watched as his face paled.

"That's . . . Lelouch and Nunnally." His fear about Lelouch spiked, "He's okay isn't he? I was scared for him yesterday in Shinjuku." He only let it be known that he saw Lelouch only the day before because there was only a small number of reasons he could think of why Jeremiah would bring it up. One of which was the worry that they found Lelouch's dead body.

The orange-eyed man blinked, "I . . . yes. They are fine as far as we know, but they escaped when we discovered them on accident. Apparently Prince Lelouch was prepared for such a possibility. You saw his highness at Shinjuku? Could you tell me the circumstances behind that before I continue on?" Jeremiah paused for a few moments when another question occurred to him. "By the way. Why aren't you referring to them by their full birthright?"

Suzaku was embarrassed now because he was so used to not doing that for his friends. He should have remembered that in this situation he should of used their titles. "Well back when we were kids they were adamant that I call them just by their names. At least so long as the situation allowed for it. It was rare for the occasion to be formal enough for that back then. I'm too used to not using them."

Suzaku fidgeted slightly under the scrutiny of Jeremiah's gaze, "I understand. I'll let it slide since they didn't want you to call them by their birthright. Knowing that their highness's trusted you so much I'll just refer to you by name as well. If you wish to call me by mine you can. For the moment. Now about Shinjuku."

"I ran across Lelouch in the subway with the poison gas." He grinned nervously, "Well I actually attacked him first. With my helmet on in the darkness of the tunnel I couldn't recognize him. It was only when he spoke and I was closer to him that I realized it was Lelouch."

Jeremiah muttered, "I always tell the scientists that those helmets make it to recognize friend from enemy. They never listen . . . or just don't care."

"Uh . . . Sir?

He blinked before realizing he had gone off on a small tangent. Shaking his head Jeremiah turned his full attention back to Suzaku. "You say he was with the poison gas. Do you know if he had helped steal it?"

Suzaku shook his head in the negative, "I don't think he was based on what he managed to say before the Royal Guard arrived. I reported my discovery of the truck before I approached it. I don't know the details, but I think he was there by coincidence."

He felt uncomfortable as he remembered what was really in the gas container. It was something Suzaku still couldn't quite understand. He just knew there was something sinister behind the lie they were told in briefing. Jeremiah could see how antsy the soldier in front of him had gotten and he was curious why. "What is wrong Suzaku?"

His eyes widened as he realized the Viceroy had noticed what he was feeling. "I-I feel like I should tell you something important that also occurred before the royal guard arrived." Suzaku was hesitant in case Jeremiah already knew, but he had to tell him just in case. "The gas canister opened on its own."

"WHAT?!"

"And instead of there being any case at all . . . a girl fell out. I know it sounds unbelievable, but what reason would I have to lie about this? Shortly after this the Royal Guards appeared, but I don't know what happened after that point."

Jeremiah's eyes narrowed as he made connections that Suzaku wouldn't. "If what he says is true then even the Purist Faction was lied to. The girl must have been apart of something dangerous that Prince Clovis had been working on. What though is the question." He kept his thoughts to himself as he looked back over the report of Shinjuku. "One other thing Suzaku. The reports states you were treated for a gunshot wound. One you were lucky to survive. What happened?"

Suzaku fell into a silent contemplation for several minutes, but Jeremiah gave him the time he needed. "When the Royal Guard found Lelouch and I they told me that I shouldn't be near whoever that girl was. Then said that I just had to kill the terrorist and my transgression would be forgiven. They wouldn't listen when I tried to tell them he was just an innocent civilian that got caught up in the battle."

The Viceroy scowled as he could imagine exactly what happened next, "And you refused to shoot his highness to save yourself. Or at least have a chance of doing so. That's admirable of you."

He slowly nodded, "They shot me in the back. Everything when black and the next thing I remember is Lloyd waking me up to offer the chance to pilot the Lancelot. Which I took partly in the hope I could find Lelouch and that girl alive."

Jeremiah grimaced at the confirmation of the girl being apart of something top secret, "Congratulations on becoming the pilot by the way. I've watched recordings on your performance. You're clearly a natural at it." He paused for a moment before going into what Lelouch had been up to while he was piloting the Lancelot. "As you know the prince and princess are alive and well, but he did more than survive Shinjuku. What you don't know is that after the Royal Guard attempted to kill his highness he joined the battle."

Suzaku's eyes widened as he realized how the terrorists suddenly started to win. "He lead the terrorists to victory didn't he?" Jeremiah confirmed it with a nod, "Damn it! I knew he hated the empire, but I had hoped it had faded after all these years." Suzaku noticed the grave look on the Margrave's face, "I drove him off though. He didn't do anything else . . . right?"

It was being kept on the down low for now, but Jeremiah felt that Suzaku wouldn't spread the news. It was the impression he got of his character. "He admitted to, in written form, having ended the battle with killing Prince Clovis."

"He did what?!"

Jeremiah then whispered, "You heard me correctly, Suzaku. What I'm about to tell you is confidential information that cannot be repeated to anyone in the Area Eleven government except for either Princess Euphemia or our next Viceroy Princess Cornelia. If you spread this out to anyone other than those two people and the Student Council of Ashford Academy, I will ensure that you never progress beyond the rank of Warrant Officer as long as I am around here! Do you understand, Suzaku Kururugi!?"

Suzaku was silent as an internal conflict began. Part of him wanted to immediately head out and search for Lelouch before arresting him while another part wanted to simply question why Lelouch killed Clovis. Before it could be resolved, Jeremiah then asked, "Are you okay, Suzaku? You're spacing out a little."

With his attention dragged back to Earth Suzaku immediately answered, "I'm alright, Jeremiah. I had an internal conflict start up. I understand what you said earlier and will not utter a single word about this to anyone except for either Princess Cornelia or Princess Euphemia."

"In any case, I mentioned Ashford Academy's Student Council because they are the only other people who can be trusted with this information." Jeremiah said before he then proceeded to tell Suzaku what transpired at the Academy. When the margrave was finished, Suzaku felt really conflicted about Lelouch's actions. On one hand, what the Emperor had tried to do with Nunnally was something that the young Honorary Britannian would object to while on the other hand he felt that Lelouch was wrong for siding with 'terrorists' and killing a member of his own family. Suzaku sighed in frustration before he said, "I guess I can somewhat understand why Lelouch won't change the system from within just like me, but I still think that he's wrong for fighting against his own people and family!"

"Suzaku, Lelouch and Nunnally admitted that they no longer counted themselves amongst the Royal Family when the Kururugi Shrine was bombed. There was also the possibility that the OSI could have discovered them and reported their survival to the Emperor, which would then lead to another assassination attempt on Lelouch and likely kidnapping Nunnally. I could only infer from what Lelouch wrote that he was planning to rebel against Britannia for a long time and Shinjuku merely accelerated the timetable by a number of years. I myself used to protect them as a guard at the Aries Villa before their mother died and Nunnally blinded and crippled. But this meeting is dragging out long enough right now. If my suspicions are right, Kewell is planning something stupid and I'd rather not get dragged into it. Clovis's death has been covered up until a suspect has been captured and it's likely that the unfortunate victim will be an Honorary Britannian. I told him that I'm doing my own investigation, so if you end up being suspected I won't vouch agianst you."

Suzaku then got up and said, "It's been a pleasure meeting with you, Lord Jeremiah." before he left. He didn't get to take more than five steps before Kewell arrived and said, "Kururugi Suzaku,was it? Or is it the other way around? Nevertheless, you're under arrest for killing Prince Clovis!"

'What!?' was Suzaku's only thought before he was hit from behind and blacked out.

* * *

Kallen and Ohgi returned to give Lelouch their answer to his offer. "Before you give your answer to my offer, I would like to tell you that something occurred in the homeland." he said.

"What happened there?" Kallen asked.

"The Glinda Knights, that's what happened. Marrybell mel Britannia, a princess of Britannia and 88th in line to the throne, has established the Glinda Knights in an effort to wipe out all terrorist groups, including you guys and the JLF. The only good news is that it's going to be at least four months before they arrive here."

"In any case, we've talked things out with the other members and we decided that we'll join you. Also, apparently Suzaku Kururugi has been arrested and charged with killing Prince Clovis." Ohgi stated.

"It looks like the Purist Faction is behind this. Coincedentally, they were the same military forces who stormed Ashford Academy early yesterday. If my intuition is correct, they plan to use Suzaku in an attempt to eliminate the Honorary Britannian system here in Japan. Their leader Jeremiah Gottwald used to be a guard at the Aries Villa and is presently the Interim Viceroy, but I don't think that he is behind this. I suspect that another member of the Purist Faction is pulling the strings." Lelouch replied.


	4. Zero Origins

**A/N: A guest posted in a review that there was an inconsistency about Suzaku's rank. My response is that I know that Suzaku is at present a Private but this is foreshadowing to later events.**

 **Inspiration: This story was partially inspired by another story. In this case it's _A Blast From the Past_ by Shadow At Midnight. Check it out if you want to see just how the hell this got up off the ground.**

 **This chapter also deserves some citation to SeerKing's story _Code Geass: The Prepared Rebellion V2,_ mostly in regards to Suzaku's rescue.**

* * *

 **Phase 4  
**

Zero Origins

Kallen noticed that Lelouch was currently deep in thought about something and decided to ask him. She asked, "So, what are you thinking about Lelouch?"

"I'm currently busy trying to come up with a name for a masked identity. I imagine that Britannia has an obssession with numbers?"

"Yeah, and from what I know zero is also a number although there isn't an Area Zero for some reason."

"Hmm, there is no Area Zero in Britannia. This is slightly interesting information. I think Zero will be a good name for my masked identity."

Sayoko stepped out of the shadows of the room and said, "I feel the need to have a masked identity for myself so that I can continue to protect you and Lady Nunnally, Goshujin-sama."

"You have protected Nunnally and myself for a long time, Sayoko. Kallen, I believe that the word 'Shīrudo' is Japanese for 'shield,' is it not?" Lelouch replied.

"I think that sounds correct." Kallen answered.

"In that case Sayoko, the name of your masked identity is Shīrudo. Now I'll just need to gather materials for uniforms. I'll need to make a call for that." Lelouch said before pulling his cellphone out and calling a number. When it picked up Lelouch then said, "This is Lelouch Lamperouge, Meltigarde. Have you received the package?"

 _"Yes, Lelouch. I've been busy getting mourning and funeral wear ready in anticipation for a rush of orders, so I'm afraid that I haven't been able to get much sleep yet. It will take me at least 36 hours to get your order complete when factoring in the workload that I have. Without that, only two hours of my time will be used completing your order and half that time wil be spent making the outfit. Is that satisfactory, Lelouch? Suzaku's court-martial will occur in four days time."_ Meltigarde replied.

"That's alright, Meltigarde. That gives me time to prepare. Make sure to get a good night's sleep soon. Lelouch Lamperouge out." Lelouch said before ending the call. Kallen then asked, "So who's this Meltigarde fellow?"

"He's the old-looking man who starts my chess matches whenever I ran late to one of them before now. Officially I'm his substitute, but it's effectively the other way around since I drag out the matches to humiliate the Nobility. He runs a costume business and did produce Ashford Academy uniforms for the High School Division. Full name is Meltigarde Ackerman. He was a servant from the Aries Villa seven years ago, but that's all you need to know about him."

"Wait a minute, you said that Meltigarde is old-looking. Does that mean. . ."

"Exactly: He's actually around thirty-one years old, even though he looks like he's in his seventies due to a disguise that he wears day-and-night. You'll learn more about his background after we rescue Suzaku."

* * *

A day and a half later, it was almost night-time when a black car entered the Shinjuku Ghetto and dropped off a package in a ruined building. When it left, Yoshida and Kallen arrived and brought it over to a room in the building where Lelouch, Nunnally, and Sayoko were staying in for now. Lelouch checked the package cautiously and after confirming that it had not been tampered with opened it and inspected the outfit within.

It was a black bodysuit that came with a detachable black cape with gold edging. It also had come with a black cloak and a black and indigo helmet that had five spikes on the sides and rear. Lelouch then said, "This is certainly what I contacted Meltigarde for. Kallen, please leave the room."

Kallen left the room and waited as Lelouch got into the outfit that had arrived in the package. When it was over seven minutes later, Kallen heard Lelouch say, "You can come inside, Kallen." Upon entering, Kallen noticed that Lelouch looked very impressive. His face was hidden by the helmet and the bodysuit enveloped most of his body.

 **"So Kallen, what do you think?"** Lelouch asked, his voice sounding mechanical.

"It's rather impressive. By the way, does your helmet have a voice scrambler built into it?" Kallen replied.

 **"The helmet does use a voice scrambler as an integrated feature. In any case, we need to start formulating a plan to rescue Suzaku Kururugi. His court-martial has been set for two days from now. I know that you offered to help and so did Sayoko, so I think you should pilot a Knightmare. The reason I say this is because a Knightmare, preferably a civilian Knightmare, will be needed for this plan."**

"So what is Sayoko going to do?"

 **"She's going to be driving a replica of Clovis's transport. Sayoko and yourself were the only people who fit the role because Clovis, while he was alive, always had female chauffeurs driving his personal transport. I know that you think it as sexist, but remember that this is Clovis we're talking about. He's a ladies man if his swimsuit designs are any indication. You wouldn't catch Sayoko or Nunnally wearing them though; they're very flattering just like the pilot suits worn by female Britannian Knights."**

"So about the Knightmare. . ."

Lelouch grinned under his helmet as he told Kallen the plan.

* * *

At the vehicle bay of the Purist Faction base two days later, two soldiers were dragging Suzaku Kururugi to the mobile platform. On top of that platform was Kewell Soresi himself, who felt confident about what would happen tonight. He waited until the soldiers secured Suzaku to the platform with extra bindings before securig a shock collar around the young man's throat. "If you try to speak, the collar will activate and shock you into silence." he said.

Kewell waited for a reply and when he heard none he said, "So you're not bothering to test the device, you stinking monkey!? You Elevens sicken my face! " before turning to the two soldiers and continuing, "You two, fill Suzaku with lead if he even so much as twitches in the general direction of a patriotic Britannian!"

The two soldiers remained silent, but pointed their rifles at Suzaku. Facing downward, Suzaku steeled himself to face the court that would determine if he lived or died. The mobile platform began to move and one of the soldiers shot Suzaku in the left leg presumably because of an itchy trigger finger. The young man did not cry out even though it was painful, and was thankful that the bullet did not nick an artery. If it did, he would bleed to death long before the court could decide his fate. Ten minutes passed and the first group of 'angered citizens' was close by before Kewell heard his radio buzz. "What is it?" he asked.

 _"Sir, it's Prince Clovis's car. It's approaching the convoy from the front!"_ the soldier on the other end answered.

"ALL FORCES HALT!" Kewell ordered as he raised his arm. The convoy, made of four Sutherlands including Kewell's own and the mobile platform that Suzaku was secured to, stopped and the soldiers wondered what was going on. The approaching vehicle answered. It looked like Clovis's transport and the Britannian flag covered the entrance to the vehicle. It stopped a few meters from Kewell's Sutherland.

 **"You DARE defile his highness's transport!? Come out of there at once!"** Kewell shouted into his Knightmare's loudspeakers. As if responding, the flag on the front of the car burned away and revealed a single figure.

 **"People of Britannia. . . I am Zero."** the figure said.

"I've seen enough, Zero. This little show you've put on is now over!" Kewell shouted before he got out of his Knightmare's cockpit and shot into the air once with his pistol. Upon doing so, two Sutherlands dropped in from VTOLs flying above the convoy and aimed their Battle Rifles at Zero.

"Before I have my men deal with you, take off your mask!" the Purist demanded.

Zero raised a hand as if to comply, but then snapped his fingers. The back of the vehicle then opened to reveal the bulb-like 'poison gas' canister from Shinjuku.

"You son of a bitch!" Kewell shouted before he began to aim at Zero.

 **"Do you know what's behind me, Kewell? It's the poison gas that you've been looking for with your buddies. You know what will happen if you miss."** Zero admonished.

Kewell knew that this wouldn't end well if the poison gas seeped out. It would risk the lives of the crowd of Britannians gatherened nearby. It even doubled for him as his own life would be at risk. Lowering his weapon, Kewell said reluctantly, "Your demands then, Terrorist!?" spitting out the word terrorist as if it were rotten food.

 **"I will exchange this device with you for Suzaku Kururugi."**

"Impossible! He has been charged with High Treason and regicide for killing a Prince of the Realm! I simply cannot just hand him over like a common ring!"

 **"You are incorrect, Kewell! Suzaku is no murderer. The one who killed Prince Clovis. . . WAS MYSELF!"**

Kewell made a hand signal and the two Sutherlands aimed at Zero. **"Would you really condemn yourself and a group of innocent Britannians to death just to get revenge for an unjust Prince!? Kewell, your name will go through the mud once 'Orange' is revealed to the public."**

 _'What the. . . Orange!?'_ Kewell thought to himself as he approached Zero cautiously.

 **"In exchange for keeping 'Orange' secret,"** Lelouch said before the left side of his helemt slid open to reveal his Geass-active left eye, **"[You'll do everything in your power to let me leave with Suzaku Kururugi.]"**

Kewell felt something overpower his mental defenses as Zero's helmet slid shut. "Very well then." the Purist said. He then ordered the two soldiers on the platform to release Suzaku's bindings. He was lowered to the road and escorted to Zero amidst the confusion.

 **"How typical. They didn't even want you to be able to defend yourself in court."** Zero said before he then shouted, **"WE SHALL MEET AGAIN, BRITANNIANS!"**

With that, a Glasgow that looked like it had been repaired recently arrived and picked up both Suzaku and Zero while the fake transport fell apart to reveal a black car that immediately sped off. The Glasgow then began to move with its precious human cargo in its hands as Kewell shot to disable the other Sutherlands with his Kngihtmare's Battle Rifle. Another Sutherland arrived and disabled Kewell, forcing him to eject and distracting them from the Glasgow, which escaped in the confusion.


	5. Pure Saitama

**Inspiration: This story was partially inspired by another story. In this case it's _A Blast From the Past_ by Shadow At Midnight. Check it out if you want to see just how the hell this got up off the ground.**

* * *

 **Phase 5  
**

Pure Saitama

"How are you feeling, Private Kururugi?" Zero asked the young Japanese man. After rescuing Suzaku from the convoy and retreating to an abandoned theater, the masked man had made sure to treat the gunshot wound on Suzaku's left leg while the pilot of the Glasgow made sure that he didn't try to escape.

Suzaku stared at the masked man who rescued him and claimed to have been the one to kill Clovis. Which, if he was telling the truth, meant only one thing. He gently massaged his neck where that electric collar had been before answering. "I've been worse."

"Of course you have. You had to survive the war seven years ago as a child did you not?" Zero replied very matter-of-factly, "That wasn't my question though."

That was true, but even if this man saved his life he still killed a prince. So Zero wouldn't get the answer he wanted. Even if it is likely that this man is a prince himself. "Did you really kill Prince Clovis?"

"So that is how you want to play this Suzaku," Lelouch thought a little absentmindedly. "Of course. He was an enemy general and this is war."

"This is not war! The war ended seven years ago!" Whether this was his friend or not he would not let him start the fighting again. He remembered guiltily what he had done to stop the do or die resistance. To stop a mass genocide of his people because of his father's pride. "Let it go!"

A tense silence filled the space between them as their ideals collided. As these two unstoppable forces met each other. "I see. So you wouldn't join me even if I were extend the offer. Even though Britannia is a worthless dominion that framed you for murder you would prefer to continue being a soldier." Lelouch scowled beneath his mask and knew when to cut his losses, but nevertheless he was still curious.

"Yes."

"May I ask why?" With all that he knew Suzaku had experienced in the war the fact he was willing to become a soldier was mystifying. He had been there right beside him. What could possibly make his old friend so obstinate. So-

"The system might be rotten, but it can be changed from within!"

Terribly naive. Lelouch scoffed at what he was being told. Britannia? Changed from within? If it was possible at all it would certainly take longer than their lifetime. The problem was that this would surely only lead Suzaku to his death and hopelessly mired in the blood of his own people. So, despite himself, Lelouch laughed.

The booming laughter of the masked man in front of him threw Suzaku off. It didn't even sound mocking. It was as if Zero truly thought his belief was hilarious. "What's so funny?! You were the one who used gas to get away tonight! How is that better?!"

At that Lelouch laughed even harder. "You should have been a comedian instead Private Kururugi. It's been years since something made me laugh so much. " The prince smirked as Suzaku bristled at his comment. "That was colored smoke. Nothing toxic about it. The result? We escaped and no one was harmed."

"The result?" Suzaku frowned at such words meant. What was between the lines. "That is all that matters to you isn't it? Any ends gained through contemptible means aren't worth anything!" This man surely couldn't actually be Lelouch. Could he have truly changed so much in seven years? He spun around and began walking towards the hole in the wall. Ignoring the glasgow.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes as he clenched his fists, "Where are you off running to?"

"My court martial starts in an hour. I can make it if I start walking now."

"You fool! All that is awaiting you is your executioner!"

It was Suzaku's turn to laugh now as he stopped in front of the hole. "With your stunt I doubt it. Besides. If I don't show up then they will just use that as an excuse to punish those in the ghetto's needlessly." He walked out as if daring the knightmare frame to shoot him. Something it didn't do because they all knew he was right. Though he got out of there Suzaku wasn't happy. Zero called him a fool and he couldn't help but hear Lelouch in that insult.

* * *

Meanwhile with the Purist Faction at 01:30 hours, everyone was pissed at Kewell. Jeremiah had disavowed the orange-haired man and wouldn't defend him. "So what do we do about this idiothead Kewell then!?" a Purist asked.

"I say that we beat the tar out of him!" another Purist shouted.

Jeremiah felt a headache come in as Villetta stepped in with, "Woudl you cut it out!? This in-fighting is just what will motivate Terrorist groups into attacking us!"

"Bitch, you can't boss me around!" the second Purist remarked.

"Yeah, what he said!" the first Purist added.

Jeremiah was enraged now and he yelled, "ALL OF YOU, SHUT THE **[EFF!]** UP! I HAVE A NASTY HEADACHE RIGHT NOW AND YOU IDIOTS AREN'T MAKING IT BETTER!"

That made everyone quiet. "Because of this headache, if you guys want to go out and burn a Ghetto to the ground then I won't stop you but don't say that I didn't warn you." Jeremiah then said.

"Warn us about what?" the first Purist asked.

"Zero. He said that he'll kill anyone who attacks civilians, regardless of nationality."

"Meh, we'll burn Saitama first thing tomorrow morning." the second Purist then said.

Barely four hours have passed since then and the remaining members of the Purist Faction except for Jeremiah were ready to burn Saitama. Charging out the gate of their base, the Purists let out a battle holler as they went to Saitama.

At the same time with Lelouch, he had barely gotten six hours of sleep along with Nunnally when Ohgi and Sayoko came in and woke them up.

"What is it now?" Lelouch asked.

"The Purists are attacking Saitama." Ohgi explained.

"We need to scramble everyone and head there ASAP. The Yamato Alliance have no Knightmare Frames, so we'll have to be fast or they'll be destroyed."

* * *

After arriving at Saitama, Lelouch went off towards the makeshift base that the Purists had set up and noticed that one of the sentries was in his Knightmare and completely alone, not to mention that his cockpit was open while near a ruined building. From the snoring coming out of the loudspeakers Lelouch could hear that the idiot was also asleep. As he arrived and got behind the pilot he saw that the man also haad the activation key written on a sticky note on his left wrist.

Lelouch stole the man's side-arm and shot the sleeping Purist sentry in the head. The black-haired former prince then took the sticky note off the dead sentry before throwing him out of the cockpit and getting into the pilot's seat. The Knightmare was booted up as the activation key was entered and then Lelouch heard something about a trainload of Sutherlands before he changed radio frequencies to the resistance and said, "I've managed to steal one of the Purist Faction's Sutherlands. Keep quiet as you head for the trainyard. A trainload of Sutherlands is there and while it is lightly guarded I overheard the Purists talking about having a virus in the Operating System. Take out the guards, disable the viruses, and sweep those Knightmare for any other trouble before deploying them."

 _"Understood, Zero."_ Ohgi replied. Lelouch had made it clear that he was to be called either Zero or K-1 on the battlefield. Sayoko was with Nunnally in a fallback position in case things went wrong. Currently three sectors out of nine that composed the outer Ghetto had been destroyed by the Purists and another sector, close to where the fallback position was located, was in the process of being destroyed. Lelouch had sensed something occur while in transit, but he didn't pay much attention to it since the plan here is to stop the Purists.

Meanwhile in the Shinjuku Ghetto, C.C. was searching around for Lelouch as she wanted to keep him alive long enough to fulfill the contract. She thought that he would be at Ashford Academy, but when she got there Milly Ashford herself told the green-haired immortal woman that Lelouch was no longer staying in the Student Council Clubhouse ever since the military stormed the academy a few days ago. The escape route Lelouch took led C.C. to Shinjuku but none of the residents so far have given her any useful information about his location. Now she was talking to one of the older residents about the local terrorists.

"They've gone out to Saitama. That's all I know, miss." the resident told her.

Back with Lelouch, he had just heard from Ohgi that the viruses were gone and that the Knightmares had nothing else in them. Upon hearing this Lelouch had several members of his resistance group mount the stolen Sutherlands.

With several of the Purists, they had just finished killing a bunch of civilians and members of the Yamato Alliance. "Well, guess we should continue our hunt." One of the Purists said.

"Yeah, but we need to act quickly before-" a secon Purist began but was cut off by two Sutherlands without IFF beacons showing up and killing all of the Purists.

"This is P-1, K-1. Purists are dead, but this is kinda interesting. One of the bodies at my location isn't Japanese. It's a guy with albino hair. You think he could be a Chinese immigrant who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?" one of the Sutherlands asked.

 _"I wouldn't rule that out, Ohgi. In any case continue fighting off the Purists while I try to contact the Yamato Alliance."_ Zero replied. _  
_

Lelouch had just arrived at the ruin where the leaders of the Yamato Alliance were rumored to be. Noting that they were one of the worst resistance groups in the area, Lelouch was not surprised to see no guards even as he changed frequencies and said, "To the Yamato Alliance, this is Zero speaking. I plan to aid you by fighting off the Purists. What do you say?"

 _"We'll accept your help Zero, but we have no Knightmares. We'll begin evacuation."_ someone who sounded like a leader replied.

In the meantime Tamaki's group had taken down another group of Purists and were waiting for orders. Zero then transmitted, _"We'll now attack that makeshift camp that the Purists have set up. Take out the sentries then move in and eliminate the remaining soldiers."_

* * *

Meanwhile with Sayoko and Nunnally, the young girl was being taught how to fold origami by the maid-turned-bodyguard. The presently-blind princess was happy and enthusiastic to learn more about Japanese culture and it showed as she managed to fold a few cranes successfully. After a few minutes of more crane-making Sayoko heard her radio buzz and she picked it up before asking, "What is it, Goshijun-sama?"

 _"We've taken out the Purists that arrived to kill everyone. In the meantime the Yamato Alliance are evacuating and they've offered to join us. They got ahold of a few Sutherland simulators so this can help in training pilots._ _We're going to have a busy day ahead of us, so make sure to stay by Nunnally at all times."_ Lelouch transmitted.

Unknown to Lelouch though, an unmarked plane was entering Japanese airspace and onboard that very plane were the li Britannia sisters.


	6. The Descent of a Goddess and Princess

**Inspiration: This story was partially inspired by another story. In this case it's _A Blast From the Past_ by Shadow At Midnight. Check it out if you want to see just how the hell this got up off the ground.**

 **A/N: I do apologize for the last chapter being rushed. I was kinda being a dumbass so hopefully this chapter somewhat compensates for that.**

* * *

 **Phase 6  
**

The Goddess of Victory and the Gentle Princess descend

Cornelia scowled as she stared at the few soldiers of the Purist Faction that remained. Barely five minutes had passed since their unmarked plane touched down at the Military Aerodrome and already she knew that both her and Euphie were going to have a lot of work on their hands. A woman approached and said, "Please forgive us, Your Highness. The Purist Faction's pride got the better of us and we paid dearly for it. Even so, the bureaucrats want to throw a banquet to celebrate your arrival. Lord Jeremiah is currently busy slapping them down."

"It seems that Jeremiah Gottwald remembers my dislike of pomp and circumstance. Good." Cornelia smirked before turning her attention to the woman in front of her, "And who are you again?"

"It is Villetta Nu, your Highness. I am Lord Jeremiah's second-in-command. He sent me here pending further orders. Though I had no idea that you were arriving today, Your Highness. May I assume that Princess Euphemia is here as well?"

"You are correct, Villetta. I was sent to replace Clovis as Viceroy and Euphemia will become my Sub-Viceroy. In any case I would like to hear from him about the hunt for that masked bastard, Zero."

"Then please follow me, your Highnesses." Villetta said as she saw Euphemia emerge from the plane. Cornelia and her sister allowed Villetta to lead them to an armored limousine and held the door open for them. After the two princesses were in, Villetta entered as well and then the vehicle took off.

"Lord Jeremiah ordered me to keep an eye on the two of you until you were inside the palace. Security measures are being increased even as we speak due to Zero somehow getting past guards, Knightmares, and security cameras to assassinate Prince Clovis. This includes metal detectors at the entrances, searching any vehicles that approach the Palace, and a 24-hour shift for some of the guards. There's even a consideration to install motion sensors inside the palace itself to supplement the surveillance cameras." Villetta immediately spoke after Cornelia had been giving her a questioning look.

"That . . . I think that the motion sensors would be overkill to be frank." Cornelia replied.

"Paranoia is the word of the day. Even moreso with your unannounced arrival. Where are Sir Guilford and Sir Darlton, by the way?"

"They are still enroute to Area Eleven. The Glaston Knights however are still busy cleaning house in Area Eighteen."

The rest of the ride to the Viceroy's Palace was uneventful. Even when the limousine pulled into the garage no one said a word until its passengers were inside the palace itself.

"Hmm, this place . . . it's tastefully opulent." Cornelia said as she and Euphemia looked around while following Villetta to the Viceroy's Office. Inside the Viceroy's Office on the left hand wall there was a large portrait that depicted the Vi Britannia family. Her breath hitched as she looked at it and whispered, "Nunnally, Lelouch, and Lady Marianne . . ."

Jeremiah walked in from a side door and said, "Prince Clovis painted that portrait himself. He said that he only relied on his memory for this. I had it placed here to remind myself of my greatest failure in an attempt to stop history from repeating itself someday. Greetings Princesses Cornelia and Euphemia. Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald at your service."

"Clovis painted this, you say? It's better than I remember him being."

"That is a sentiment shared by the curator of his Highness's personal art gallery. It's likeness to them is uncanny, I must admit."

Cornelia then faced Jeremiah and said, "I believe I have you to thank for not having bureaucrats attempt to fawn over me or Princess Euphemia as soon as we stepped off the plane."

"I merely recalled my time as a guard of the Aries Villa under your command. Your dislike of pomp was legendary amongst the Guard."

"I'm glad that I left that impression." Her expression changed into something much more serious than it was only moments ago. "Pleasantries aside I need to know how the hunt for Zero is going."

"Of course, Your Highness. Shall we start no or should I wait until Guilford and Darlton arrive?"

"I will speak to them about this once they arrive. Euphemia, you should pay attention as well."

Villetta left the room as Euphemia, Cornelia, and Jeremiah got seated.

"To start with there has been no sign of a person such as Zero at any time during the past seven years. It's almost as if he simply appeared out of nowhere almost a week ago in Shinjuku." His eyebrows furrowed, "In fact recent information tells us that is actually the case."

Cornelia narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean? Have you gotten a lead on who Zero is?"

Jeremiah shifted uncomfortably,"Yes, but I will get to that. I need to preface it first." At her frustrated nod he continued, "The Elevens being in a constant state of unrest has only added to the problem and there has been virtually no urban renewal other than what was necessary to build the Settlement, thus the creation of the Ghettos. As for any secret meetings, we only have a handful of sleeper agents in fifteen resistance groups, none of them amongst either the Japanese Liberation Front or the Blood of the Samurai. Speaking about them though, there's been no word about their activities either from our spies or from other resistance factions. I suspect that the Blood of the Samurai may have disbanded." Jeremiah started.

"Those resistance groups should have been eliminated. Not just monitored! This is ridiculous!" Cornelia replied as a scowl set on her face.

"Prince Clovis would have worried about being recalled to the Homeland if his Area was a constant hive of military activity. Not to mention that he was of the opinion that those groups were no threat to the military forces protecting the Tokyo Settlement and the Fukuoka Base in Kyushu . . ." Jeremiah admitted before beginning to go into the details of the past few days.

"About five days ago the Purist Faction received orders to mobilize in pursuit of an unregistered group of terrorists based in the Shinjuku Ghetto. They had stolen a canister of deadly poison gas from Prince Clovis. I always wondered why only the Purists were mobilized as protocol dictates that at least three Knightmare Battalions are to be deployed in the event of a highly delicate situation like the Sapporo Incident or this. In any case, I searched through Prince Clovis' files once I became Interim-Viceroy to find notes on the gas and any possible counter-agents. What I found though was something far worse than I originally expected." Jeremiah said as he recollected the events of Shinjuku.

"I remember damaging the enemy Glasgow's left arm with one of my slash harkens and closing in for the kill. The damage must have extended to the slash harken in that same arm as the pilot tried to use it, but it failed to leave the arm. The Glasgow then ejected the remains of the arm into the path of my stun tonfa and used the explosion as cover to escape. After that we were ordered by General Bartley to enter the Shinjuku Ghetto and find the poison gas canister."

He thought back to seeing soldiers slowly killing every Eleven they came across. Not caring about their age or if they were even armed. "Prince Clovis later issued an order to destroy the Ghetto and kill its inhabitants." Jeremiah paused as Princess Euphemia's breath hitched and trembled at the idea of her brother ordering such a thing. Not knowing what he could possibly say he cleared his throat and continued, "This had the effect of drawing out the Glasgow, which proceeded to destroy several VTOL Gunships and tanks before I encountered it again. It was after this that I first encountered Zero. He had been commanding the terrorists during the battle as before it began they only had a single Glasgow, but during the battle they piloted Sutherlands. Zero himself ambushed my wingman and I while we chased the Glasgow."

"Zero led Prince Clovis's soldiers into a series of ambushes with the help of the Glasgow and Sutherlands from a supply train passing through."

Cornelia frowned at that, "Why was there a train full of working Sutherlands passing through the ghetto unguarded? By all rights my brother should have known better. There are rules in place to try to prevent this very thing."

He sighed before starting again with a grimace, "Forgive me for what I'm about to say Your Highnesses, but . . . the prince wasn't the most forward thinking when it comes to strategy. Nor were any of his staff on the G-1." The margrave swallowed audibly at the look she sent him. Looking away he went back to what he had been saying before. "The success of each ambush baffled Bartley and enraged His Highness. Prince Clovis then took personal command of his troops and made a critical error by breaking the encirclement-"

"He did WHAT?!" She stood up in rage and disbelief at what Clovis had done. He had all but sent a signed invitation asking Zero to go kill him.

He was aware she knew exactly what he had said, but he repeated himself anyway. "Your brother took personal command and in his panic ordered the troops to break the encirclement with the intent to overpower the enemy. Then used his own guards to plug the holes." Knowing what he did now Jeremiah was well aware how outmatched the prince had been once Lelouch took control. There was little he could have done to have avoided the sound spanking he had been given if their chess matches from the Aries Villa were anything to go by.

"Those soldiers were ordered to encircle where the enemy was believed to be and charge in. Unfortunately the enemy was ahead of them and destroyed most of Prince Clovis' ground forces by collapsing the tunnels. This directly led to the very earth itself under the ground forces to collapse. This caused your brother to panic even more so than he had before. Not knowing what else to do he ordered the deployment of the Camelot's Z-01 Lancelot. It proceeded to eliminate most of the terrorist forces and almost defeated Zero. He managed to narrowly escape however and make his way to the G-1 Base. Where Zero forced Clovis to order a ceasefire."

Euphemia looked up from her hands, where her face had been buried in since she learned of the massacre, and spoke. Her voice wavering, "Which is when Zero killed him."

He hesitantly nodded and winced when her face fell back into her hands and a soft sob could be heard. "The guards don't remember allowing unauthorized personnel access and none were killed. The bridge staff and Bartley reported the very same phenomenon when questioned. The only explanation would come from the cameras, but the footage was erased and backups destroyed. That is what happened during the Shinjuku Debacle as we refer to it as now." Jeremiah said as his shoulders slumped. Remembering there was still something much more important to tell them.

"What do you mean they don't remember?" That had to be a lie. How could so many people at once suffer from a lapse in memory otherwise? It's just not possible.

"I mean that nearly three-quarters of an hour of their time is simply gone from their memories. I have no explanation for it. Much like you I didn't believe it until I did several lie detector tests." Though they know who Zero is now Jeremiah had no idea how Prince Lelouch accomplished such a thing. Real life doesn't work like that. At least . . . not as far as the margrave knew.

The new viceroy looked at him shrewdly as if trying to find some falsehood in his words just by making him uncomfortable. "That can't be your only evidence. I remember you well enough from Aries Villa to know better."

"There is." He nodded in agreement, "I never mentioned how Zero knew of the supply train. He somehow stole my second-in-command's own Sutherland. Not long after these reports started to come in she admitted to having the exact same memory lapse. However she was able to remember one small thing that gave us a legitimate lead on Zero himself."

There were few things in this world that chilled Cornelia's blood. Yet it was a sensation that only grew stronger as the margrave continued, "She remembered seeing a male Britannian student whose uniform consisted of a black jacket over a white shirt with a pair of black pants on. This description left us with two schools in the area. Ashford Academy and a private school named Odyssey Boy's School."

Her eyes lit up in recognition of one of the names, "Ashford? As in the Ashford family that used to support Lady Marianne?"

"The very same, Princess." He offered a shared smile as the name brought back many good memories. The Ashford's were well-renowned for their parties and, as they discovered, that is a fact that hasn't changed. "I requested Villetta retrieve the student rosters from both schools, but it was as I was looking through the Ashford list that I found something I thought impossible."

He fell into silence as he remembered his inability to process what he had found. The discovery had been the greatest thing to happen in his life in a long time. It was only when Cornelia cleared her throat that he shook himself out of it. Speaking back up as he let a single tear roll down his cheek, "I found your lost siblings. Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally had been hiding at Ashford all this time." He stopped talking again and quietly pushing a photo of the siblings over to the two stunned princesses.

"Th-they're alive?" Cornelia's voice was low and disbelieving though her hand was shaking as she picked up the picture. Euphemia was equally as shaken, but she only needed to glance at the photo before weeping. Her heart filled with overwhelming joy.

"Lelou and Nunna are alive. I never gave up hope."

Through her own happiness however Cornelia's mind was connected dots she didn't want to be connected. Jeremiah said Villetta's memory put them on a very real lead to Zero. Yet now he was talking about her missing siblings and producing evidence that they were alive. Perhaps even more damning is the look on the margrave's face. In a soft tone, "I-I'm happy, but what does this have to do with Zero?"

Jeremiah sighed and then continued with what had happened next. "I made the decision to mobilize the Purist Faction and a few infantry squadrons in preparation to storm Ashford Academy early in the morning after allowing a few hours of rest. We surrounded the Academy grounds quickly and gave them a ten minute grace period to come out on their own. When that time passed without them doing so I gave the order to storm the school with top priority being to ensure both Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally's safety." A prominent frown appeared on his face as recounted what he found. "I dismounted my Knightmare and rushed into where they had been staying only to find that they had fled."

The pinkette's smile faded into an expression of heartbreak having assumed she could see her beloved siblings as early as after this meeting. She was still happy to find they were alive, but things weren't as wonderful as she thought they were. "Why would they flee?" Her tone was confused and hurt.

Cornelia's feeling of cold dread doubled as she watched Jeremiah tense. Though it seemed to be due to nerves and his own dread. "They did leave a note behind, but . . . I'll let the note speak for itself." He admitted before sliding Lelouch's note over towards Cornelia..

Cornelia looked over the note. There were a myriad of emotions and thoughts running through her head, "I understand why you mentioned Zero now." She hesitantly gave her sister the note. Filled with trepidation as her fists clenched. It would seem her enemy would be their lost siblings. This was something she never wanted to happen. How could she bear to harm them?

"I'm so glad they missed us too." Euphemia gave them a smile despite being unable to miss the bad news within the letter. She had always preferred to look on the bright side of things.

"Indeed, Princess Euphemia. Milly Ashford herself also knows why Prince Lelouch would eventually go down this path anyway. You'll learn from her why Lelouch would have rebelled eventually." Jeremiah said before remembering something and said, "Kewell, one of the soldiers under my command, did two very stupid things before you arrived. The first was that he arrested an Honorary Britannian by the name of Suzaku Kururugi and charged him with killing Prince Clovis even though Suzaku is innocent of the crime. He had intended to use Suzaku as a scapegoat to dismantle the Honorary Britannian system in this area, but Zero once again appeared and put a stop to that.

"When Zero told Kewell to do everything in his power to let him escape with Suzaku, he aided the terrorist. After I questioned him about it, I learned that he now suffered a memory lapse similar to what Villetta, the G-1 bridge staff, guards, and General Bartley went through." Jeremiah said.

"What was that idiot thinking!? To use an Honorary Britannian as a scapegoat for his own agenda is just deplorable!" Cornelia shouted.

"Kewell's other very stupid action was to attempt to destroy the Saitama Ghetto. This backfired on the Purist Faction badly and we are now barely at platoon strength because of Kewell's foolishness. Zero and the terrorist group from Shinjuku appeared and through use of ambushes destroyed many of the soldiers that followed Kewell. One such ambush not only killed two soldiers, but a Chinese man with albino hair was caught up in the chaos and died. The man's remains are in the morgue right now."

"What is going on with this country!? Idiocy from subordinates, terrorist activity being constant, and now lost siblings are becoming enemies!" Cornelia shouted.

"It is now clear that Zero is Prince Lelouch. However if he is openly outed as Zero irrepairable damage will be dealt to the empire. Therefore, I would suggest keeping Zero's identity a closed secret that only we and people that we can trust will be allowed to know. Suzaku already knows and has been made to promise not to spread this information around." Jeremiah said.

"That is true. Darlton and Guilford will be briefed about this and made to promise not to tell a soul about this to anyone else." Cornelia replied.


	7. Phase Seven

**Inspiration: This story was partially inspired by another story. In this case it's _The Bonds of Family_ (formerly _A Blast From the Past_ ) by Shadow At Midnight. Check it out if you want to see just how the hell this got up off the ground.**

* * *

 **Phase 7  
**

Tearing Up Trouble

Cornelia spotted the entrance to the mountain base and went in with just her Gloucester. She had found the central base of the Blood of the Samurai one week earlier and was making her attack now to see if they truly had disbanded. After heading through a short tunnel she saw an anti-aircraft gun that wasn't manned and scanned the surroundings with her Factsphere Sensors. To her irritation, nothing was detected. Sighing, Cornelia opened her cockpit and drew her personal weapon out as she looked around with her own two eyes. There were cobwebs in a few corners of the room, signifiying that the place hadn't been used recently. Cornelia got back into her cockpit and transmitted, "This is Cornelia. There's nobody inside the mountain base. The anti-air gun isn't manned by anyone and I saw some cobwebs in here. Seems that the Blood of the Samurai, assuming that they're still around, have abandoned this base."

"This can't be right. They wouldn't have abandoned the base like this." Darlton transmitted. He and Guilford arrived four days after Cornelia became Viceroy and helped in eliminating two resistance groups. They were both small cells with no more than sixteen members and thus easy to take out. The Blood of the Samurai though were one of the largest resistance groups in Area Eleven. They wouldn't have abandoned the base without extensive planning ahead.

"It seems that the Blood of the Samurai aren't here anymore. Even the anti-air gun doesn't have any ammunition. We now have to consider that either they really did disband or they're heading somewhere we don't have ears at."

"Princess Cornelia, we've got reports of a situation ongoing in the Greater Tokyo Area. A trainload of Sutherlands was stopped while being transported through the Nerima Ghetto. The guards protecting that train are reporting that they got ambushed and are pinned down by terrorists right now. From what we've got from them, they're the same terrorist group from Shinjuku that gave Clovis a hard time." Guilford transmitted.

Cornelia sighed as she sped out of the abandoned base and went off. Meanwhile with Kallen and the other Shinjuku terorrists, they were fighting off the guards while a few more members hijacked Sutherlands from the train. Sugiyama and Ohgi had some of the guards pinned down with small arms fire while Kallen and Yoshisa dropped in from above in Sutherlands and crushed the Britannian guards with the weight of their Knightmares. Sugiyama and Ohgi stopped firing and then said, "It looks like these guys are downed. Let's move and keep an eye out for reinforcements."

Sugiyama silently agreed with Ohgi as did a few members of the Kozuki Resistance as they stole the Sutherlands from the train and escaped before Britannian reinforcements arrived. Guilford and Cornelia's Gluocesters arrived just as the stolen Sutherlands fled into a tunnel that was used as an escape point.

"Damn! Looks like we got here too late to stop the terrorists!" Guilford shouted through his loudspeakers.

"Search the area for survivors. There have to be at least some around here." Cornelia transmitted to her royal guardsman.

"Understood, your highness." Guilford said before he began to search for survivors. He found one after moving an overturned train car and helped the man up. "What happened?" the royal guardsman asked.

"We were ambushed by terrorists who destroyed the lead car of the train. I was stuck under the overturned car you moved so I wasn't able to partake in the situation." the guard replied.

"What happened is unfortunate but at least you're alive." Guilford said before Cornelia transmitted to him, "Guilford, what's on your end? I just got two survivors back on their feet."

"I managed to find one survivor who was stuck under an overturned train car. I helped him out and as it so happened he said that the train was ambushed." Guilford replied.

"Oh well. I'll need to schedule a meeting with Ruben Ashford sometime soon and learn from his grand-daughter Milly why two important people fled."

 **A/N: I am so tempted to split this into two stories soon. This story, One Brocon Too Many, will still remain strictly Lelouch x Nunnally while the second story will give Lelouch a harem that includes Nunnally. This ended up being a short chapter but bear with me for now.  
**


	8. Phase Eight

**Inspiration: This story was partially inspired by another story. In this case it's _The Bonds of Family_ (formerly _A Blast From the Past_ ) by Shadow At Midnight. Check it out if you want to see just how the hell this got up off the ground.**

* * *

 **Phase 8  
**

The Rise of the Black Knights

Meeting Room, Unknown Location, 10:30 hours, one day after the raid on the military train.

"Kusakabe's going to do something stupid. I just know it already." a hooded man said.

"The Annual Summit for the Sakuradite Producing Countries at Lake Kawaguchi is the most likely event that Kusakabe will hijack. The other event locations are either not defensible enough for his liking, are too close to Britannian military bases, or so small that the organizers can simply pack up and leave at the first sign of trouble. Especially since he somehow manufactured _that thing_ from four Burai, spare cannon, and a large generator." an old man said.

"This is exactly why I recommend against sending the Guren MK-II to the JLF: Something like this will come up and then Cornelia will destroy them before it even arrives. Kusakabe's angry at Zero's accomplishments and is determined to prove that he can obtain a victory just like Colonel Tohdoh did at Itsukushima back when the invasion was ongoing." Hiroyosi Yoshino said.

"At the same time, we cannot exactly _abandon_ them. The JLF has been around the longest out of any resistance group!" Hidenobu Kubouin said.

"I believe that we should look to the future and not to the past, everyone. Zero and his group are doing well, but I cannot entrust the Guren MK-II to them at the moment. They will have to do well one more time before that can happen while the JLF must solve their Kusakabe problem before Cornelia's wrath destroys them if they are to receive the Guren." Kaguya said.

"What about the 'Zero Faction' then? Are we going to give them anything?" the hooded man asked.

"Calm yourself, Osakabe Tatsunori. We shall give some Burai to the Zero Faction. Even if the JLF ultimately do not get the Guren MK-II, we can deliver some Burai-Kai to them." Kirihara replied.

"Oh. Even if it's a token gesture I'm sure that those will be fine for either of them." Kubouin said.

"Well then, anything else?" Kirihara asked. Upon receiving no answer he said, "Meeting adjourned."

* * *

Viceroy's Palace, about one hour later.

Milly was tense and for good reason. Both her grandfather Ruben and Milly herself had been summoned to the Viceroy's Palace for a meeting with Cornelia li Britannia, the new Viceroy and half-sister of Lelouch and Nunnally. The Ashford heiress really didn't like the fact that Villetta Nu was doing a full-body frisk on her, but she supposed that it could be worse if she complained right now since she was only in a pair of navy blue panties and a frilly yellow bra.

"Okay, everything looks alright. You can put your clothes back on, Miss Ashford." Villetta said before leaving. Milly took that as the cue to put her dress back on. It was a pretty green one that showed some of her cleavage. After doing so, she left the small room and rejoined her grandfather at the entrance hall of the Viceroy's Palace. Andreas Darlton was waiting for them and said, "Please follow me." as he led them through the Viceroy's section of the palace. Once outside a door Darlton knocked on it and said, "I have brought Mr. Ruben K. Ashford and his grand-daughter Miss Milly."

"Come in." a voice on the other side ordered.

Darlton opened the door and Milly went in along with her grandfather. Inside the meeting room were twelve comfortable chairs that surrounded a table. Cornelia was occupying a chair that was at one head of the table and an adjacent chair was occupied by Euphemia. "Nice to see that you're still alive, Milly. The same goes for your grandfather. As you two are aware, I am the new Viceroy of Area Eleven Cornelia li Britannia. Please have a seat." Cornelia said.

Milly decided to sit down across from Euphemia while Ruben sat next to his grand-daughter. Cornelia then said, "Before I begin talking with you, I must apologize for having you two go through a a vehicle search, metal detectors, and then a full-body frisk. Paranoia has been the word of the day ever since Zero got past Knightmares, armed guards, and surveillance cameras to assassinate Clovis. In any case, I must thank you two for looking after my missing siblings Lelouch and Nunnally."

"The pleasure is all mine, Princess Cornelia. As it so happened I saw them like they were my own grand-children." Ruben replied.

"That is good to hear. However pleasant stuff like this isn't the only thing I have to discuss with you. Jeremiah Gottwald mentioned that Milly knew why Lelouch would eventually rebel against the Holy Britannian Empire. I would like to know why he would do that." Cornelia said.

Milly sighed and then asked, "Do you remember when Lelouch demanded justice for his mother's murder?"

"I do remember what happened: Father called Nunnally weak in addition to acting unaffected to the death of his favored consort and Lelouch threw away his claim to the throne in anger." Euphemia said.

"Exactly, and Lelouch was sent to Japan as a political hostage. At the time I had no idea what the Emperor would have done with Nunnally. I suppose that you have an answer for that." Cornelia added.

"Yes, although it's an answer that you likely will not like hearing."

"So what is it?"

"The Emperor had every intention of having Nunnally married off. It wouldn't have happened for a number of years though as it was to be with a wealthy nobleman's six-year old son." Milly answered.

Cornelia scowled and shouted, "There's no way that Lelouch would stand for that happening! I suppose that he did something to ensure that it wouldn't come to pass."

"Yes, Princess Cornelia. Lelouch ordered several guards from the Aries Villa to retrieve Nunnally from the hospital, and they succeeded despite some of them dying in the attempt and a few more being captured and executed. The Emperor had no idea that Lelouch was behind it until both he and Nunnally were already in Japan. Dorothea Ernst tried to find her with no results until Lelouch sent a taunting message."

"Jeremiah told me what happened next behind closed doors: a Spec-Ops team was sent after Nunnally and they had orders to kill Lelouch."

"Our father did what!?" Euphemia shouted, surprised at this information.

"The Emperor did order them to kill Lelouch. He however had expected this and maximized the chances of the entire team getting killed by moving to a military base near Tokyo. That incident just happened to be the unofficial trigger of the Second Pacific War."

"Euphy and I were always wondering why the military was already geared up before tensions were raised. I certainly believed that our father would have tried the same trick on us if I hadn't put Euphy under my protection."

* * *

Lake Kawaguchi Hotel/Convention Centre, Hotel Area, Floor 24 Room 1, two days later.

"It's been only three days since our raid against that Britannian military train, Ohgi. However we need to hold our positions here on the 24th and 25th Floors in case Josui Kusakabe's followers show up. The Annual Summit for the Sakuradite Producing Countries is being held here today and I doubt that Kusakabe would pass up the opportunity to do something stupid here." Lelouch said to Ohgi.

"I can understand that, but why would Kusakabe take an entire building hostage?" Ohgi asked.

"Kusakabe, despite his shortcomings, is a solid leader who actually knows what he is doing much like myself. However, he is a blind nationalist who lets his pride get in the way at times. Besides, the stairs leading here from Floor 23 have been barricaded, which means that Kusakabe's soldiers will have to use the elevators to reach us. The elevator doors are also closely watched by at least three of our guys." Lelouch said as he heard the bark of gunfire come from the floor below them. The door to the room then opened and Sayoko came in along with Nunnally before the maid said, "The equipment in Room 3 on this Floor is ready, Goshujin-sama."

"I will need to get ready, Ohgi. Would you kindly leave the room?"

"Sure." Ohgi said as he got up and left the room. When he exited, the door closed behind him and a few minutes later Lelouch was dressed in his Zero outfit while Sayoko was dressed as her alternate identity Shīrudo. Nunnally however had not changed outfits though as she still wore the Ashford Academy Middle School Division uniform despite no longer attending. Nunnally was deep in concentration though, and that drew a worried look from Ohgi.

He said nothing as he let them pass by and enter Room 3. While doing so he noticed that as Shīrudo Sayoko wore a stereotypical Ninja outfit. Once Lelouch, Sayoko, and Nunnally were inside Room 3 the TV screen that was connected to a bunch of machines turned on and displayed Josui Kusakabe's face. Lelouch then said, "Hello there, Josui Kusakabe."

"So you are the infamous Zero, eh? I was surprised to see that you're here as I'm making my point to the world that the Japanese Resistance are not dead. The mask is kinda disrespectful, so I politely ask for you to remove it." Kusakabe replied.

After doing so, Kusakabe's expression changed. "Le- Lelouch!? I wasn't told that you would be here along with Nunnally!" he said before Lelouch remarked, "Your intention was to hold this entire building hostage and exchange them for captured JLF personnel, wasn't it?"

"You are correct about that, Lelouch. Is there a problem?"

"This is Zero, you guys should capture Kusakabe and kill his men." Lelouch whispered into a walkie-talkie before replying to Josui, "Yes there is a problem with that. Cornelia doesn't negotiate with hostage takers and I remember one incident where she ordered an aerial bombardment on a location where hostages had been taken without even bothering to show up."

Lieutenant-Colonel Kusakabe had a look of horror on his face upon hearing that. "N- No way. I had never thought of that possibility." Kusakabe said. A minute later, Kusakabe was surprised to see the door to the room that he was in get kicked open as two members of the Zero Faction cut down his guards before restraining him. One of them then said, "Shall we leave before things get hairy, Zero? Another team said that they rescued the hostages."

"I'll go down and assure the former hostages that thier captors are dead." Lelouch said before he put his mask on and left. Meanwhile with the hostages, Nina was frightened along with Milly and Shirley. The JLF guards were dead and several members of the Kouzuki Resistance were watching over them now. The hostages had surprising taken it well when the Kouzuki Resistance fighters broke open the door and only shot the JLF soldiers to death before assuring them that they meant no harm to them. After a couple of tense minutes passed Nina asked no one in particular, "Is... is this nightmare over?"

As if to answer her, Zero entered the room and said, "Britannians, your nightmare is over. One thing though..." before looking around and noticing a girl with pink hair. Zero pointed to her and said, "You there with the pink hair, could you please stand up?"

The girl stood up and took off a pair of ordinary glasses that inexplicably concealed her identity from everyone in the room. **[1]** She then asked, "What sort of business do you have with Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire?"

"Britannians, you have Princess Euphemia to thank. Were it not for her being here, Cornelia would have bombarded this place into oblivion when she arrived."

Almost all of the ex-hostages thanked Euphemia before leaving the room. When only she remained she asked, "What do you plan to do with Kusakabe?"

Lelouch answered, "Kusakabe is a very good soldier. He was one of several Japanese soldiers that was involved in killing a Britannian Spec-Ops team before Japan was invaded. As it is right now we cannot dispose of very good soldiers, even if they do something morally rehensible."

That got Euphemia's attention since by taking a hotel full of tourists hostage Kusakabe had indeed done something morally rehensible. "I presume that you intend to hand him over to the JLF, Zero?" she asked.

"Yes, Princess Euphemia. Given what he tried to do here, I am certain that he will be demoted at best and kicked out of the JLF at worst."

 **A/N: The harem story has already been published as 'Code Geass: The Rise of Neo-Japan. One Brocon Too Many has now officially split into two.**

 **[1]- I honestly had no idea why a simply pair of glasses was enough for Euphemia to avoid being outed by Kusakabe's men from the start.**


End file.
